June 9, 2024:
Xicheng district in Beijing can be characterized by both rapid modern growths, underscored by its rich and preserved Beijing flavor. Between the cross section of old state-owned corporate buildings, chic financial streets, and unassuming west Beijing neighborhoods sits one of the old relics of old Beijing, a city gate of the old Beijing city wall. 西便门 (Xibianmen/West Convenient Gate) is not as glamorous as the other inner city gates as it was constructed along with the outer city walls (which in itself was less funded and less glamorous compared to the inner city walls) and was meant to serve as a continent gate for citizens to exit the city due to it’s proximity to 宣武门 (Xuanwumen/Declarative Military Prowess Gate). Xibianmen was able to survive the demolition of Beijing city walls during the 1950s to 60s and now protrudes awkwardly between a highway-collector junction in what used to be the northwest corner of the outer city walls.
A small heritage park was established in place of where the remains of the gate and is awkwardly nestled between the 2nd ring road and two major streets in central-west Beijing. Upon arriving I was quite shocked on how dense the foliage was and how it was able to somewhat mask the loud 2nd ring road. But it would be a far cry to say that Xibianmen Park was as quiet as the sound of cars and even at some points the rumbling of the subway below could be clearly heard.
I expected the park to be small, and my stroll around the park, even with constant pauses for picture-taking took around 15 minutes. It really was quite difficult to fathom how this was an old city gate as the gatehouse itself blended in so well with the walls and was so small. The dense vegetation and growing vines on the side of the ruins solidified a somewhat mysterious allure to the old city gate which only furthered my fascination with the old city gate. I then climbed onto the top of the wall which created a sensation I felt similar at the observatory and southeast corner of the inner city wall, which was empowerment and scale: Even though the remains of Xibianmen were not expansive or noticeable, standing on the wall reminded me of how different the city used to be structured and how it looked and how the history of the walls overpowered me and I recognized how I was now somehow apart tied to history of this important piece of Beijing’s history.
The vantage point onto the walls allowed me to look down the wide streets and highways which really just demonstrated the magnitude that these streets in Beijing have to carry so much traffic and in the 2nd ring road’s case, one could quite literally see how the wall would continue up north.
{ Credits }
Writing: Arthur Vadnjal
Editing: Margaret Yang
Photography: Arthur Vadnjal
Formatting: Margaret Yang
Posted By: Margaret Yang
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